3 Critical Items for Building Your Business in the Recession
Sep 29th, 2009 | By Barbara | Category: 2010 Economy, Affiliate Marketing, Amazon, Coaching, Insights, Make Money, Make Things Simple, eBay Affiliate Program
NOTE – I wrote this post over half a year ago…and I’m thrilled that I actually put my plan back then into action! How have the past 6 months….changed YOU? — Barbara Ling
Morning all,
You know, I’ve come to the conclusion….I really hate selling.
I can do it, mind you, I can write superb books about it, I can design copy that makes the angels sing….but personally speaking, I just hate selling. It’s my shyness, I expect.
This is probably why back in 2006, I developed the Rich Hermit book series – it outlines exactly how to build portal sites, network with affiliate programs and the like. Raising 4 kids, 12 Twitter Budgies, 2 Mooses and a husband just really doesn’t give me lots of hours to spend with customers as well!
So. Over the weekend, I’ve been thinking about where to focus my energies and I’ve come up with several ideas:
1.) Virtual Coach
I’ve had the domain now ever since I started making money online, and recently built the free Income Fitness Forums too! If there’s one thing about which I know….it’s how to teach anything to anyone.
2.) Recession Proof Niches
Fact is, no matter how lousy the economy is, people will always still want to:
- Eat OR diet
- Lose weight
- Have better sex
- Feel good about themselves
- Go to the doctor
- Make money
- Get one up on their competitors
Out of the above, I’m a master at:
- Eating/dieting (lost 50+ pounds and kept it over, wrote a book about it as well)
- Great sex (The Sensuous Woman could have been written by me)
- Make money (Mastered Adsense, affiliate programs, selling on eBay, etc.)
- Feel good about oneself (and wow, did I earn every bit of knowledge there through the school of hard knocks!).
True, I’m also a master at finding people to hire online (ie, Internet recruiting) but chances are, that’s NOT the most logical industry in which to specialize right now!
So I’m looking at one of the 4 above, which brings me to the next point.
To make money in such niches, there are at least 3 things you NEED, including:
1.) Your own autoresponder (so you can build up a list – pet peeve following, btw – if you do NOT have your own autoresponder, you’re simply not serious about making a business online. It’s like swimming in the Atlantic Ocean – if you do not have at the very least a life-preserver, or a boat, or a yacht, or a … you’re shark bait, plain and simple). I’ve been using aWeber myself now for almost 8 years; it’s an excellent service.
2.) Affiliate products (so you can market related items to your visitors). You can use Clickbank items, e-Junkie products, Amazon products, eBay items…..tons of good stuff indeed.
3.) Your own domain name (this is just common sense folks. And if you scour about on the Internet for coupon discounts, you can get domains from GoDaddy at $7.45).
That’s the bare minimum for creating an online business. With your own autoresponder, you can run a:
- Newsletter
- eClass
- 7 Day Followup
- Contest
- Reminder Service
You can even invest in Instant Niche eMails to help you devise 52 weeks of solid content and put your newsletter on autopilot if you choose!
For me, the fact is…I have realized that my shyness really does inhibit a lot of money-making potential for me….so I’m going to focus on creating businesses that become destination sites themselves. And of course, I’ll share all the goodies I find here as well.
What about you? What’s your ideas for making your current business recession-proof?
Enjoy,
Barbara
Related posts:
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
SU
So, do you really own two mooses? Nice.
Another neat niche for the recession is resume writing. With the unemployment rate almost reaching 10%, people are dying for resumes that stand out to land them that hard to find job. Your outline for creating an effective marketing plan is what few tend to realize. That blueprint works, and I just wish more people would realize it. Nice post!
Surviving The Recession´s last blog ..Five Hot Jobs
Well, they are really moose-sized doggies. But so cute!
Glad you liked the blueprint too.
Barbara, love, love this post. The tips are great and right on target. I’m cheering with you for your goals and know with certainty you’ll hit every one! I am totally focused on making a contribution daily. So to keep my business recession proof, I’m actively seeking out what my current customers need (or will need) and finding ways to fulfill that need. By keeping up with (and ahead of) things that are important to them and will keep money flowing in their business, I create continuous new streams of income from people I already enjoy serving.
Karen Swim´s last blog ..Rip the Veil or Close the Blinds?
Thank you for your kind words! And actively seeking out what your customers need (or will need) – very wise indeed….it’s how the truly helpful businesses stay ahead of everyone else. That’s something about which a great blog post would make.
Barbara, I do really enjoy reading your post. Although I don’t comment often, I visit your blog about every 2-3 days. I really like your writing skills and the way you write your articles with the images you display. It’s easy to read, and make me want to read the full articles without skipping any words.
AWeber is defitenly the best autoresponder in the world, I use it on one of my blog and am fully satisfied with it. Their affiliate program make you earn a good passive income too.
Benjamin Cip´s last blog ..What Is Better “Social Media Marketing” Or “Email Marketing” ?